1. Field
The present general inventive concept relates to a data storage apparatus and method of encrypting and decrypting data, and more particularly, to an apparatus to process a crypto key and method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a data storage device is a computing device that reads data from and writes data onto storage media. A data storage device may contain moving parts or may not have any significant moving parts. An example of a data storage device with moving parts is a traditional disk drive where a disk, e.g., a spinning platter, rotates and has one or more heads that read and write data. A data storage device without any significant moving parts is generally referred to as a solid-state drive.
A secure disk drive supports data encryption at the drive using a partial or full disc encryption technique in which an encryption key is used to encrypt data on a storage medium. In a conventional system, in response to a read or write command, encrypted data is retrieved from storage and decrypted or data is encrypted and stored. While an encryption or security key may be stored on the secure disk drive, the encryption and decryption is handled by an external processor in a host device or by a microprocessor in the secure disk drive. Because the data must be first encrypted or decrypted before being processed as directed by the read or write command, software solutions for encryption and decryption have a large throughput and performance impact.